'I always say I don’t get hung up on tactics, and I don’t' - Brian Cody in quotes

QUOTABLE: Former Kilkenny manager Brian Cody. Pic: INPHO/Tom Honan

“People say going out in a match that ‘we’re prepared to die to win this game’ but that’s a dangerous thing to say. You should never say you’re prepared to die to win. You should always be prepared to kill to win a game. That’s the difference.” – At a talk in UCD in January 2015.

"They were handed an opportunity which was a completely wrong decision. We didn't speak about it the last day but it was criminal. People can say that I am whingeing and moaning all they like, but I am telling the truth. You don't hand a team a free puck and say, 'Lads, there you go, win the game'. It was like that." – speaking after the 2014 All-Ireland final replay win over Tipperary about referee Barry Kelly’s decision to award Tipp a late free in the drawn game.

“You say to me: there is more to life than hurling. Well, if you want to carry on like a fella who is not an intercounty hurler, well then there will be more to life than hurling, lots’ more. But there won’t be hurling. And that’s the reality of it.” – in a 2008 interview.

“A lot of people maybe; they mightn’t have been particularly hurling people because if they were writing us off after that it wouldn’t have been a particularly clever sign of a hurling person. I wouldn’t have seen that to be very smart of any person who would profess to being a hurling person. Because if they were writing us off after that it wouldn’t have been a particularly clever sign of a hurling person. I wouldn’t have seen that to be very smart of any person who would profess to being a hurling person.” – talking after the 2011 All-Ireland final victory over Tipperary referring to the league decider defeat to Dublin earlier in the year.

"You can't buy the feeling we have right now. If I were to walk away from it, I would have to find something else and I don't think it exists. Being involved with these guys is like having a hurling career all over again." – a joyous Cody after Kilkenny defended the Liam MacCarthy Cup in 2003 when they saw off Cork in the final.

“I always say I don’t get hung up on tactics, and I don’t. Players dictate tactics. You may believe in playing the game in a certain way, but you may not have the players to do so. You give the players you have the opportunity to play to their strengths, which is what I like to think I do. In 2002 and 2003 we were branded as a tough, physical team beating the ball in high to our forwards — it was as if we couldn’t hurl. Certainly we had physically strong players at that time who could win their own ball across the half-forward line. Now we don’t have players who are as big, therefore, you can’t expect the same type of play from them. The basics don’t change – defending, work rate – but it’s still very much an instinctive game, a game based hugely on skill.” – in December 2006 after stopping Cork completing a three-in-a-row.

“Marty, please give me a break, will you. The referee, we're supposed to say nothing about the referees. I make a habit of saying nothing about referees. Diarmuid Kirwan I am certain went out to do the best he possibly could. You seem to have a problem with him, you tell me.” – Cody’s terse response to Marty Morrissey after the RTÉ GAA correspondent asked him about the penalty awarded to Kilkenny in the closing stages of the 2009 All-Ireland final.

“I was amused at the time, to be honest. I have seen it before, I have heard it before. People get excited when they see something as if... it's as if like people never scored goals before or as if people never hurled before. It happens. The participants weren't claiming it. The media came up with all sorts of novel ideas that had been thrown out over the years. I have seen about four or five new types of hurling since I came into this job in people’s minds. The fundamentals of the game can't change. It's impossible to change the fundamentals of a team sport like hurling. If you think it can well then you might start winning All-Irelands." – speaking after winning the 2014 All-Ireland recalling commentary about the ’13 finals between Clare and Cork.

“You can talk about managers and management teams and all sorts of people but when the game starts, the players bare their souls and they have to perform. That's the way in every sport.” – complimenting his players after this year’s emphatic All-Ireland semi-final win over Clare.

“I don't have to go begging for the job and I'm not into this caper of leaving as a hero either. I couldn't give a Ballyhoo about a settled team, I pick on attitude” – chatting after the aforementioned 2006 All-Ireland final win over Cork.